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The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) is a
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
501(c)(3)
non-profit corporation, incorporated in 1982, which owns all the
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
s of the estate of
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...
and licenses their use. CST
does business as L. Ron Hubbard Library.
A 1993 memorandum by the
Church of Scientology International stated that the organization
is an autonomous church of the Scientology religion outside the international Scientology ecclesiastical hierarchy. CST conducts an extensive program of activities to preserve and archive the Scientology Scriptures for use by future generations
Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...
. CST also owns the option to acquire RTC's rights to the Scientology advance technology and religious marks under three narrowly defined sets of circumstances, each of which contemplates a serious threat to continued existence of the religion. CST is the principal beneficiary of Mr. Hubbard's estate, provided that it obtains recognition of its tax-exempt status.
Corporate information
The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) was
incorporated by Sherman Lenske in Woodland Hills,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
on May 27, 1982. The
Bylaws
A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...
of CST were signed on June 7, 1982, by its General and Special
Directors
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
, who were at that time Lyman Spurlock, Rebecca Pook, Maria Starkey, Stephen A. Lenske, Sherman D. Lenske and Lawrence A. Heller. In 1986, CST's
Articles of Incorporation
Article often refers to:
* Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness
* Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication
Article may also refer to:
...
were amended to clarify the "
disposition of the
corporation's assets
In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can ...
upon
dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
".
On August 18, 1993, CST filed an application for
tax exemption
Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
under section
501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code. The
Internal Revenue Service granted CST's request for exemption through an official recognition letter on October 1, 1993.
At the time of the filing for
tax exemption
Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
, the following individuals held
corporate
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
positions at CST: The
Board of Trustees was composed of John Allcock, David Lantz and Russell Bellin. Thomas Vorm, Russell Bellin and Catherine Schmidt formed the
Board of Directors. CST's
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
was Russell Bellin, its
Vice-President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Thomas Vorm, its
Secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
Jane McNairn and its
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury ...
Catherine Schmidt.
Licensing of trademarks and service marks
The existence and founding of CST is intimately connected to the creation of the
Religious Technology Center
The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is an American non-profit corporation Letter by the Internal Revenue Service to Flemming Paludan, Regional Director, Danish Tax-Office, Washington, D.C., USA, December 22, 1993 that was founded in 1982 by th ...
(RTC), which was incorporated on January 1, 1982. Shortly after its inception, RTC received on May 16, 1982 "the ownership, supervision and control" of the
trademarks
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
and
service marks, identifying "Scientology applied religious philosophy" and "Dianetics spiritual healing technology" by the originator and founder of Scientology,
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...
through a so-called "
Assignment
Assignment, assign or The Assignment may refer to:
* Homework
* Sex assignment
* The process of sending National Basketball Association players to its development league; see
Computing
* Assignment (computer science), a type of modification to ...
Agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
".
This agreement was subject to an additional "Option Agreement" between Hubbard, RTC and CST. In two so-called "Option Agreements" from May 1982, Hubbard granted CST the right to purchase at any time from RTC the "Marks", the "Advanced Technology" and all the rights to them for the sum of $100.
Parallel and similar-sounding agreements between Hubbard, RTC and CST were created during that period concerning the so-called "Advanced Technology," which consists of unpublished derivates of Scientology's confidential "Advanced technology".
Under these agreements, RTC is forced to turn over 90% of its net income to CST. A document from 1991, reflecting the "financial money flows" of RTC during the year 1989, actually showed a turnover of 59% of RTC's net income towards CST.
Other examples of
trademarks
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
and
service marks owned by CST are
The Way to Happiness
''The Way to Happiness'' is a 1980 booklet written by science-fiction author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard listing 21 moral precepts. The booklet is distributed by The Way to Happiness Foundation International, a Scientology-related nonp ...
and The Way to Happiness symbol. As such, CST operates as the L. Ron Hubbard Library.
Facility locations
CST operates numerous bases throughout the western United States. Locations include:
Twin Peaks, California
Creston, California (Creston Ranch / Whispering Winds Ranch)
While not a vault location, the Creston Ranch, where L. Ron Hubbard died, is marked with the CST logo.
Triple Jay Ranch, California
Petrolia, California (Sunset View / Eureka)
The property is used as an archival document storage repository, which will store religious documents preserved by CST.
Tuolumne, California (Lady Washington Mine)
Located at 18749 First Avenue, Tuolumne serves as archival storage for the writings of L. Ron Hubbard. The Lady Washington Mine and two houses on 26.23 acres were purchased in 1988 by William and Donna Daniels. In 1988, the Daniels gave the property to Norman Starkey, trustee of "Author's Family Trust". Starkey gave the property to the Church of Spiritual Technology in 1993. Digging began in 1997. According to the Los Angeles Times, the CST "is using state-of-the-art technology to protect Hubbard's writings, tape-recorded lectures and filmed treatises from natural and man-made calamities, including
nuclear holocaust
A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
."
According to plans filed with the Tuolumne County Building Department the facility features a 15-foot-wide, 250-foot-long-tunnel. The first 98 feet from the entrance are improved, with a 10.5-foot domed ceiling. At the end of the 98 feet is a 10-foot-long storage room.
Trementina, New Mexico (San Miguel Ranch /
Trementina Base
Trementina Base is the popular designation for a property of the Scientology-affiliated Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) near Trementina, New Mexico.
Overview
According to the CST, an entity formed to manage the Church of Scientology's copy ...
)
According to CST, the purpose of this base is to provide storage space for an archiving project to preserve Scientology founder
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...
's
writings,
films and recordings for future generations. Hubbard's texts have been engraved on stainless steel tablets and encased in titanium capsules underground. The project began in the late 1980s.
The base includes a number of dwellings and the archives themselves, the latter in a network of tunnels. The base also has its own private, concrete airstrip, the San Miguel Ranch Airport (NM53).
The site is about a -hour drive east of Santa Fe. Access is through a gated road and a private concrete airstrip, the San Miguel Ranch Airport (NM53). The Trementina location is supposedly a store for material written by L.R. Hubbard, as shown in 1998 on
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
''
20/20'':
"Buried deep in these New Mexico hills in steel-lined tunnels, said to be able to survive a nuclear blast, is what Scientology considers the future of mankind," ABC's Tom Jarriel said in his report. "Seen here for the first time, thousands of metal records, stored in heat-resistant titanium boxes and playable on a solar-powered turntable, all containing the beliefs of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard."
The site is marked from the air with Church of Spiritual Technology double diamonds. A runway for smaller airplanes is located on CST owned land in connection to the site. The original short strip was expanded in the early 1990s on land acquired by a land swap deal between CST and neighboring land owners in 1992.
Archives
The CST oversees the Scientology scriptural archiving project, which aims to preserve the works of Hubbard on stainless steel tablets and encased in
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
capsules in specially constructed
vaults throughout the world. Copies of Hubbard's works go through a rigorous process, beginning with the
removal of deterioration-causing acid from the paper, and then being placed in plastic envelopes. They are then placed in the titanium "time capsules." The writings are also carved into stainless steel plates, which, according to Church of Scientology officials, can withstand being sprayed with salt water for a thousand years. Hubbard's taped lectures are recorded again into gold compact discs encased in glass.
The Church places prime value to Hubbard's volumes of works and because of this has instituted the CST to “engrave the entire corpus of Hubbard’s original texts on steel plates.”
The most famous example is the
Trementina Base
Trementina Base is the popular designation for a property of the Scientology-affiliated Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) near Trementina, New Mexico.
Overview
According to the CST, an entity formed to manage the Church of Scientology's copy ...
, an underground vault built into a mountainside near
Trementina, New Mexico. It is marked by a CST logo visible only from a high altitude and was built in the late 1980s. Former members claim that the purpose of CST's archival efforts is to ensure that Hubbard's work survive a
nuclear apocalypse and reform civilization. The church believes that these plates will last beyond a thousand years and that Hubbard's teachings will be vital for "rebuilding civilization," in the event of global turmoil.
Former members of the church also claim that the symbols in the logo are “guide markers for Scientologists returning from other parts of the universe," according to ''Scientology in Popular Culture: Influences and Struggles for Legitimacy.''
According to the Scientology website, the Church of Spiritual Technology “is not involved in the ecclesiastical management of Scientology churches or the delivery of Scientology religious services. Its day-to-day activities are the long-term archival preservation methods to ensure that Mr. Hubbard’s written recorded works will be preserved for future generations.” The website also states that the archive's purpose is to make available L. Ron Hubbard's technology “in its exact and original form, no matter what happens to the society.”
Additional archive sites exist in
Tuolumne California and
Petrolia California.
Structure
The first time the Church of Spiritual Technology was mentioned publicly to Scientologists was by
David Miscavige
David Miscavige (; born April 30, 1960) is the leader of the Church of Scientology and, according to the organization, "Captain of the Sea Org". His official title within the organization is Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Cen ...
in 2000 at the New Year's event. Its founders included
Meade Emory, a non-Scientologist who used to work for the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) but went into private practice as a tax lawyer. He was hired as a specialist for the complex Internal Revenue Codes. The Church of Scientology International and most Scientology organizations settled with the IRS about 11 years later when the service passed a resolution in 1993 declaring the Church tax-exempt.
Other Scientology organizations require all corporate officers to be Scientologists in good standing, along with Scientologist general directors and staff. The CST, however, includes "Special Directors" who are not required to be Scientologists, but who are required to be lawyers "to ensure that CST takes no action to jeopardize its tax-exempt status" (''CST vs. IRS'', US Claims Court No. 581-88T, June 29, 1992).
CST vs. IRS - United States Claims Court, June 29 1992
/ref>
See also
* Church of Scientology
* Church of Scientology International
*Dianetics
Dianetics (from Greek ''dia'', meaning "through", and ''nous'', meaning " mind") is a set of pseudoscientific ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hub ...
*List of Scientology organizations
The worldwide network of Scientology organizations consists of numerous entities and corporations, located in the United States as well as in other countries. All these organizations are interrelated and connected through an internal hierarch ...
*Religious Technology Center
The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is an American non-profit corporation Letter by the Internal Revenue Service to Flemming Paludan, Regional Director, Danish Tax-Office, Washington, D.C., USA, December 22, 1993 that was founded in 1982 by th ...
*Scientology
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...
References
External links
''What is Church of Spiritual Technology?''
from scientology.org
Patents by Assignee Church of Spiritual Technology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church Of Spiritual Technology
1982 establishments in California
Intellectual property law
Scientology organizations
Religious organizations established in 1982
Undesirable organizations in Russia